Danny Katz, CoPIRG director, 608-215-0929, danny@copirg.org
Garrett Garner-Wells, Conservation Colorado Communications Director, 303-605-3483, garrett@conservationco.org
Matt Frommer, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, 908-432-1556, mfrommer@swenergy.org
DENVER — As Colorado leaders unveiled an initial proposal for a transportation funding bill in the 2021 General Assembly, different environmental and multimodal advocacy groups joined together to call for a bill that addresses climate change equitably.
The transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado. According to Governor Polis’s recent Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, Colorado must cut climate pollution in the transportation sector by 40% to meet the state’s goals. By 2030, the roadmap identifies that Colorado needs to have nearly one million electric vehicles on the road and must reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by 10%.
Given the short timeframe and how far Colorado is from meeting these goals, the groups expressed appreciation that Colorado leaders were working to identify ways to increase transportation dollars but highlighted the path to raise revenue and the ways to spend those dollars must be the right strategies focused on closing the state’s climate gap.
Key recommendations for any legislative proposal are:
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Colorado cannot just keep building highway lanes that result in more vehicles and more driving.
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There must be a major commitment to VMT reducing strategies like transit, walking, and biking that give people the freedom to complete trips without owning and operating a vehicle. Specifically, there needs to be significant funding for expanding transit operations.
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All repair and construction projects near residences must include mitigation for harmful particulate matter pollution.
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Any policy must position the state to tackle climate change by accelerating electrification of cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles.
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Colorado should directly fund programs that benefit those disproportionately impacted by our current transportation system including BIPOC, low-income, the ageing population, people with disabilities, transit-oriented and transit-dependent areas, and rural communities while ensuring these same communities do not bear a disproportionate burden from fee increases.
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Raising new revenues should prioritize strategies that increase the cost of pollution and the most polluting forms of transportation.
Coalition Statements:
“If the state’s going to reach 1 million electric vehicles and reduce VMT by 10% by 2030, we’re going to need bold action. We’ll need to stop spending money on transportation options that increase driving and pollution and expand funding for strategies that cut pollution. Money will be important but the details will matter too. I’m glad Colorado’s leaders are considering a robust bill but it will have to be a bill that transforms our transportation system to one that does not pollute our planet, is safer, and improves our quality of life. I look forward to seeing the details,” said Danny Katz, CoPIRG executive director.
”For too long, transportation policies have left low-income communities and communities of color divided by highways, breathing toxic air spewed by the gas-guzzling vehicles traveling on these congested highways, and with inadequate access to public transportation. When highways become too congested, we widen them, which leads to new lane miles, more pollution and ultimately more traffic. It’s time for Colorado to kick the habit of highway expansions and prioritize solutions that reduce emissions, vehicle miles traveled. A holistic reimagining of our transportation status quo would include electrifying cars, trucks, buses; expanding and electrifying public transit while making public transit accessible to all; and investing in bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure,” said Jenny Willford, Clean Energy Advocate for the Colorado Sierra Club.
“To address climate change and reduce transportation-related pollution in an equitable way, we have to prioritize improvements to transit, walking, and biking – the transportation modes that many lower-income households and essential workers rely on to get to their jobs, school, and other daily destinations. Making the transportation system work better for these traditionally overlooked members of our community will benefit all of us,” said Jill Locantore, Denver Streets Partnership executive director.
“It’s time for Colorado to invest in a transportation system that supports our health, safety, and climate goals — and to do it in a way that leads with racial and environmental justice. This session’s transportation bill should help Colorado protect public health and hit our climate targets. We must cut climate and particulate pollution while investing in electric vehicle development for families living on lower incomes, providing more public transit options, and reducing vehicle demand,” said Jenny Gaeng, Transportation Advocate for Conservation Colorado.
“Here in Colorado and across the Interior West, transportation is the second-largest source of the fossil fuel emissions that cause climate change, just behind the electric power sector,” said Aaron Kressig, Western Resource Advocates’ transportation electrification manager. “The laws Colorado passed in 2019 to set science-based emission reduction goals and the state’s adoption of a ZEV standard were important first steps. But we need much more action from our elected leaders to reduce transportation emissions and encourage greater electric vehicle use.”
“Any state transportation funding bill must make it easier for Coloradans across the income spectrum to choose eBikes, both by reducing their costs for consumers and by funding infrastructure that encourages their use. eBikes are completely unparalleled when it comes to reducing Colorado’s leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions—those caused by our transportation sector. Instead of swapping one set of four wheels for another, eBikes allow people to leave the car at home entirely, reducing emissions, saving wear and tear on our roads, and making travel cleaner, greener and safer in the process. There’s no electric vehicle more efficient than an electric bike,” said Jack Todd, Bicycle Colorado Director of Communications and Policy.
“It’s time for Colorado to modernize our transportation system by raising money to fix our infrastructure and optimize its use. A climate-friendly transportation funding bill will incentivize electric vehicle adoption and direct investments toward cleaner and more efficient mobility options like transit, biking, and walking. Let’s focus on moving people more efficiently instead of moving gas-powered cars further distances.” said Matt Frommer, Senior Transportation Associate with the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project.